apps Archives

How to Build Apps for Barcode Scanners

October 1, 2024/in App Development, apps, Low Code, Mobile /by Erin Cavanaugh

Handheld barcode scanners are indispensable in many sectors today, from retail and logistics to healthcare, shipping, and manufacturing. These devices play a critical role in capturing real-time data, such as inventory updates, order tracking, and customer details. However, integrating scanned data seamlessly into backend systems is just as important as collecting it. Barcode scanner apps can bridge the the gap with the ability to transfer scanned information to databases and business systems.

While the need to integrate barcode scanner data into mobile apps is a common requirement, building scanning apps is often a challenge. Traditional development methods require specialized expertise and can take too long, especially in industries that demand rapid deployment.

Support for connecting to barcode scanners in Altova MobileTogether changes all of that. With this low-code app development framework, you can create, test, and deploy barcode-scanning solutions in a fraction of the time compared to conventional coding approaches.

A worker in a warehouse scanning a barcode to send data to a tablet

The Easy Way to Track GDPR Compliance

September 28, 2022/in apps, MobileTogether /by Erin Cavanaugh

GDPR is an acronym that has been top of mind for of privacy officers, CIOs, and even marketers across the EU since the early months of 2018. Now that it’s been a few years since the regulation went into effect, organizations should have a handle on what type of data is impacted and how to handle compliance. The ongoing challenge is tracking and documenting the steps required for GDPR compliance as a business evolves over time.

While numerous one-off templates to create GDPR reports based on a moment in time are available, Altova has created the first long-term solution for documenting and tracking the entire GDPR compliance management process.

Let’s take a look at what GDPR compliance entails and how the Altova GDPR Compliance Database makes managing it organized and straightforward.

An easy way to document and track GDPR compliance

How to Build a Data Entry App

August 17, 2022/in App Development, apps, No Code /by Erin Cavanaugh

Data entry is a vital activity for businesses and organizations across every vertical. While much data entry has been automated thanks to advances in technology, there are circumstances where manual input is still required. Whether entered data is for reporting financials, tracking research, documenting health data, or managing inventory, end users need easy-to-use tools that help them quickly enter valid information.

As apps have evolved, so has data entry software, offering users new options for getting the job done in the field, in the lab, or at a desk – on the user’s device of choice. App developers are challenged to quickly customize data entry apps with advanced features for automatic field population, validation checks, and reporting tools.

No-code app development frameworks offer a viable solution for building data entry apps for all platforms quickly and without a huge investment. Let’s take a look at some best practices and how no-code solutions can help tick the boxes.

A Great App for Cataloging Collections

July 28, 2021/in apps, Mobile /by Erin Cavanaugh

If you’re a collector – and let’s face it, we all are – of anything from books to stamps to video games, you’ve got to check out the Altova MyCollections app.

This is a free app available for Android, iOS, and Windows, and you can actually install it on all three concurrently. I love using this to, for example, enter collection info on my Windows laptop and access it on the go on my phone. It’s easy to share your collections with friends or make them public, and you can even list your items for sale or rent.

Check out this quick demo video to see how it works.

The best way to see how MyCollections works is to try it out yourself. Download it from your favorite app store using the links below.

Tags: Built with MobileTogether, collections app, collector app, MyCollections

Developing and Debugging User Functions in Mobile Apps

March 17, 2021/in apps, mobile development, Tools /by David McGahey

Recently I came across this note in a senior developer’s code review of a colleague’s work: “Slightly revised the user function to work correctly when languages other than English are used.” This was a surprising comment–the code is the code and it shouldn’t make a difference what language the developer or the end user speaks! A user function is simply an expression that may accept input parameters and returns a result.

Altova MobileTogether supports user functions in a cross-platform mobile development framework that combines drag-and-drop UI design and standardized functional programming for data selection and processing. Several MobileTogether demo applications are highly dependent on user functions and the MobileTogether Designer includes features that greatly assist creating and validating user functions.

Let’s take a look at user functions in mobile apps by examining one of these demo apps.

A General Counsel’s Take on Contract Management Tools

February 3, 2021/in apps, Cloud, Contract Management /by David Gast

Contract management is an important issue for most businesses, large and small. Given the breadth of approaches and tools in use, deciding on a solution can be a daunting task.

My take is simple: we use the Altova ContractManager for all of our contracts. We modified some fields to accommodate tracking of deadlines for trademarks and patents and storing copyright registrations. If you have a deadline or need to store odd documents, ContractManager can be modified to meet your need. It is a great platform that is flexible and easy to use. Perhaps I am a little biased since, well, I am the General Counsel of Altova and helped during the product design – which is an interesting story in and of itself.

Manage Your Contracts in the Cloud

October 6, 2020/in apps, Cloud /by Erin Cavanaugh

Organizations of all types and sizes are faced with the challenge of storing and managing contracts in a paperless world. Locked file cabinets have been replaced by network storage folders that quickly become unorganized and don’t always provide the appropriate level of access control and security.

Customers have turned to digital contract management solutions and indeed there are many on the market. After our own search for a product that was easy to use, secure, and readily adapted to our business, we found that the field came up short. So we built our own.

Introducing Altova ContractManager – a secure, cloud-based contract management app that’s feature rich, highly-customizable, and affordable for firms of any size. Let’s take a look at how Altova ContractManager checks all the boxes.

Altova ContractManager: a cloud-based contract management solution

Altova Enters SaaS Market with New Cloud Apps

September 28, 2020/in apps, Cloud /by Erin Cavanaugh

We are excited to announce a new SaaS subscription model for Altova legal, financial, and regulatory apps. The Altova Cloud offers a seamless experience for users to simply log in and start using one or more Altova apps, without the need to download or install any software.

Let’s take a look at some advantages of choosing Altova cloud apps and what makes the Altova Cloud different from other SaaS subscription models.

Tags: Altova Cloud, CbC, CbCR, ContractManager, SaaS

CbC Reporting Made Easy

December 8, 2019/in apps, Data Integration, Mobile, MobileTogether /by Erin Cavanaugh

A recent mandate from the OECD called on large, multinational companies to report financials annually for each country in which they do business to their local tax authority. The OECD specified that this detailed Country by Country (CbC) Report be filed in an XML document according to their reporting schema. But for tax departments that work largely in Excel or other accounting software, this presented a significant stumbling block – and companies found themselves scrambling to meet the requirements by the deadline.

What was needed is a way to automatically generate valid, properly formatted CbC XML reports based on existing data. Altova created the Country by Country Reporting Solution to do just that, either based on manually entered data or figures imported directly from Excel. Let’s take a look at how it works.

Simplified Security Options & More in MobileTogether 5.1

February 27, 2019/in App Development, apps, mobile development, MobileTogether /by Erin Cavanaugh

The latest release of MobileTogether, Altova’s low-code, cross platform mobile app development framework, offers a simplified method for requesting and implementing SSL certificates by utilizing Let’s Encrypt integration. Now, developers can secure communications between the backend server and user devices quickly, seamlessly, and for free.

Other updates include support for the latest versions of Android and multiple new options for flexible app development. Let’s take a look.

What's new in MobileTogether, Altova's low-code app development framework

Flexible Collection Curation with MyCollections 4.0

January 22, 2019/in apps, Mobile /by Erin Cavanaugh

MyCollections, the easy-to-use app for cataloging and sharing your collections, has been updated with flexible new tools for customizing the way your published collections are displayed.

Whether you’re using the MyCollections app for iOS, Android, Windows, or the web, the new options in MyCollections 4.0 make it even easier to show off your collections exactly as you’d like to.

MyCollections app for cataloging and sharing your collections

Working with Rich Text in Enterprise Apps

April 11, 2018/in App Development, Applications, apps /by Erin Cavanaugh

Developing enterprise apps often involves integrating text that includes embedded formatting information in the form of rich text – whether it’s from back end CMS systems or content entered directly by users.

The Rich Text control in MobileTogether makes this easy.

Rich text control in enterprise app

Push Notifications Headline Latest MobileTogether Release

November 8, 2017/in apps, Development, Mobile, mobile development /by Erin Cavanaugh

The latest release of MobileTogether, Altova’s framework for cross platform mobile app development, adds easy-to-use tools for defining push notifications, the ability to embed apps inside web applications, and more.

Let’s take a look at these new features, which only add to the long list of functionality available for building today’s sophisticated, data-centric mobile apps.

MobileTogether 4.0 Adds Push Notifications